Buffing wheel adapted to utilize reused cloth



y 5, 1966 B. G. JESKE 3,258,807

BUFFING WHEEL ADAPTED TO UTILIZE REUSED CLOTH Filed Dec. 50, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BERNA RD 6. JESKE dwgm ATTOENEYS July 5, 1966 B. ca. JESKE 3,258,807

BUFFING WHEEL ADAPTED T0 UTILIZE REUSED CLOTH Filed De c. 30, 1963 iheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR. BERNARD JESKE A 7' TORNEV-S B. G. JESKE 3,258,807

BUFFING WHEEL ADAPTED TO UTILIZE REUSED CLOTH July 5, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 50, 1963 INVENTOR.

E w w M EWW a u 2 my a 3,258,807 BUFFIN G WHEEL ADAPTED T UTILIZE REUSED CLOTH Bernard G. J eske, 7017 Drexel Ave., Dearborn, Mich. Filed Dec. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 334,253 2 Claims. (Cl. 15230.13)

This invention relates generally to bufling wheels and more particularly to an improved buffing wheel utilizing cloth from a used wheel.

A buffing wheel is normally used only until the cloth on the wheel is worn to a distance spaced about 1" to 3" radially outwardly of the metal mounting hub or ring on which the cloth is mounted. A substantial amount of usuable cloth is thus available from such a used buffing wheel. For example, in the case of a bias cloth bufling wheel, a strip of cloth 3 to 6" wide is available from a used bufling wheel. However, the cost of the labor involved in assembling relatively narrow strips of cloth from a used buff in a new buffing wheel has heretofore made it somewhat expensive to manufacture buffing wheels utilizing used cloth. In the past, huffing wheels utilizing used cloth have been manufactured by manually winding the narrow strip of cloth from a used bufl about a pair of concentric rings. The resulting annular ring of cloth was then slit to remove the rings and then sewn along an annular path, following which the cloth was attached to a mounting hub or ring. Such a procedure does not lend itself to an automated type of manufacture and the resulting bufling wheel includes a substantial cost for the manual labor involved. In addition, an equal distribution of cloth about the hub is dependent on the skill of the labor involved, so that the cloth may not be evenly distributed about the hub in many cases. Furthermore, the abrasive material which is present in many used buifing wheels causes damage to the sewing machines when the annular sew lines, which are required to hold the cloth on the hub, are made in the reclaimed cloth. Also the resulting bufi cannot be cooled by a radially outward cflow of air between adjacent bufis because air flow is blocked by the bulky cloth located at the circumference of the hub. Buffs constructed in this manner must also have a center opening which is large enough to pass the butt cloth through when winding the buff. Thus the center opening size may in some cases be larger than desired. It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved bufling wheel utilizing reclaimed cloth which does not require annular sew lines to hold it together, provides for a radially outward flow of cooling air between adjacent buffs, is constructed so that an even distribution of the cloth on the wheel is assured, is readily manufactured without excessive manual labor, is not limited as to center size, and which has a very flexible cloth body that is especially useful in b-uffing contoured metal articles. It is also an object of this invention to provide a buffing wheel utilizing reclaimed cloth which is readily adapted for an automated type procedure, and which provides a body of cloth of desired width from a strip of cloth of lesser width.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a worn bias cloth buff;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the cloth in the buii in FIG. 1 after removal from the mounting ring;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view looking along the line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIGURE 3A is a view of the cloth shown in FIG. 3 after it has been flattened out;

3,258,807 Patented July 5, 1966 FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of rotatable frame apparatus used in the method of this invention, showing a strip of reclaimed cloth wound thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a front view of a drum fixture used in the method of this invention, showing a body of reel-aimed cloth wound thereon;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the assembly shown in FIG. 5;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view of the assembly shown in FIG. 5, after the cloth has been moved into a position for gripping by the mounting ring; and

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of a bufling wheel of this invention manufactured according to the method of this invention.

With reference to the drawing, a used bias cloth buff, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including a metal mounting hub or ring 12 having teeth or jaws 14 and an annular body 16, formed of a cloth formed of soft or hard synthetic or natural fibers such as cotton, sisal, combinations of cotton and sisal, etc., which is gripped at its inner edge by the teeth 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the cloth body 16 has been worn to a position in which its outer edge 18 is sufficiently close to the teeth 14 that further use of the bufiing wheel 10 is impractical or uneconomical. When the cloth body 16 is removed, by releasing the body 16 from the jaws 14, it is of the general shape shown in FIG. 2, and the outer edge '18 is usually irregular in shape and covered or impregnated with bufling compound. The body 16 consists of a plurality of layers 20 (FIG. 3) of cloth each of which is folded over upon itself, and the numbers of layers 20 depend upon the use for which the particular buff 10- was intended. As shown in FIG. 3A, the layers 20 can, although this is not usual, he laid out flat and in this position, they constitute a continuous coil of cloth of a width indicated at a which may be uncoiled so as to form a strip of material, indicated at 22 in FIG. 4, of the width at and of a length depending upon the amount of cloth in the buff 10. The strip 22 may be lengthened by sewing the cloth from a plurality of used buffs together in an end-to-end relation.

In the method of this invention, the strip of cloth 22 is wound about a pair of rods 24 which are attached at their ends to a pair of rotatable frame members 26 that are shown provided with axially aligned supporting shafts 28 which can be rotated in any desired manner. The strip 22 is manipulated so that as the rods 24 are rotated about the axis of shafts 28, the strip 22 is wound about the rods 24 as shown in FIG. 4 so that adjacent pieces 29 of the strip 22 are overlapped. The edges 23 of strip 22 formerly constituted the outer edge 18 of cloth 16 and are therefore somewhat ragged. The strip 22 is preferably wound on the rods 24 without first laying the cloth out flat, so that the strip is two-ply in cross section as shown in FIG. 3, having one folded edge and one ragged edge 23. The strip 22 is then of a width equal to /za and is wound on the rods 24 so that the folded edge overlaps the ragged edges 23, resulting in substantial concealment of the edges 23.

When the strip 22 has been wound about the rods 24, a flattened helical body 30 of cloth is formed, which is continuous, since adjacent flights or pieces 2 of cloth in the body are overlapped, and a seam 32 is formed in the body 30 either by sewing, or by the application of suitable adhesive material, so that the body 30 will retain its flattened helical shape when it is removed from the rods 24. The body 30 is of a length l which is at least equal to the circumference of a dnnn fixture indicated generally at 34 in FIG. 5 for a reason to appear presently. The width of the body 30, corresponding to the distance between the rods 24, and indicated at W in FIG. 5, is inmost 3 cases greater than the width a or /za of the cloth strip 22 and is determined by the desired radial length of the cloth body on the buff to be formed.

The cloth body 30 is removed from the rods 24 by withdrawing the rods 24 from one of the frames 26. The body 30 is then placed on the peripheries of the two drums 36 and 36a which form the drum fixture 34. The length l of the body 30 is suflicient to provide at least one complete loop of the body 30 about the drums 36, 36a. If a heavier buff is desired, a plurality of complete loops of the body 30 are formed about the drums 36 and 36a but in any event, the length l of the body 30 is such that complete loops are formed. In other words, the length l is evenly divisible in all cases by the circumference of the drum fixture 34. If desired, the body 30 can be wound in a coil shape and secured end to end with other bodies and stored for later use. At such time, a length l is cut from the coil. Also, one of the frame members 26 can be eliminated so that as strips 22 are wound on the rods 24, a continuous body of cloth, of flattened helical shape is also being removed from rods 24 and coiled.

The drums 36 and 36a are mounted on shafts 38 and 38a, respectively, and are mounted so that they are movable toward each other. In the illustrated embodiment of the drum fixture 34, the drum 36 has an axial shaft projection 38 which is slidably supported in a cavity 40 in the drum 36a. Suitable means is provided for contracting the cloth body 30 radially inwardly to a position between the drums 36 and 36a. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, this contraction is accomplished by placing a wire 42, of loop shape, about the external surface of the body 30 at a position midway between the edges thereof. The wire 42 is then manipulated so as to reduce the circumference of the loop formed thereby to in turn draw the cloth body 30 radially inwardly between the drums 36 and 36a.

The mounting hub 12 consists of an annular center plate 54 which is mounted at its center on the drum shaft projection 38 at a position between the drums 36, 36a, as shown in FIG. 7. The center plate 54 is formed on its circumference with spaced clamping tabs 52, and a metal clamping ring 48, which is in the form of a radially outwardly opening channel as shown in FIG. 7, is formed with the teeth 14. The ring 48 is concentrically positioned on the circumference of the center plate 54, so that circumferentially adjacent tabs 52 are disposed on opposite sides of the ring 48. The wire 42 is manipulated so as to contract the cloth body to a position in which a central portion 46 of the body 30 is positioned within the alligator teeth 14 formed on the ring 48. The drums 36, 36a are then moved toward each other so as to force tabs 52 into clamping engagement with ring 48 and force teeth 14 through the portions 46 of the cloth body 30 so as to clamp it within the teeth. The wire 42 is then removed, and the resulting buifing wheel 50 (FIG. 8) of this invention is removed by moving drums 36, 36a far enough apart to allow removal of wheel 50 from projection 38. Each cloth piece 29 is thus return folded upon itself in overlapped relation with adjacent pieces 29 and is in a position in which its center portion 29a is clamped within the ring 48 and its end portions 29b extending radially outwardly in overlapped relation so that the terminal edges 29c of the portions 29b are separated. It is obvious that any reduction in diameter of the wheel 50, such as occurs with normal use, disrupts the continuity of the cloth strip 22 and provides completely individual pieces 29.

As a result of the use of the clamping ring 48 with the reused cloth body 30, when a plurality of buffing wheels 50 are stacked side by side on a shaft, a metal-to-metal contact of adjacentrings 48 takes place. Such contact permits a flow of air in a direction radially outwardly between adjacent wheels 50 to cool the buff bodies 30. In

'a conventional buffing wheel made from reused cloth in the manner previously described, adjacent cloth bodies contact each other so as to block any such flow of air.

As shown in FIG. 8, the buff 50 of this invention includes the alligator-type mounting ring 48 and the cloth body 30, with the edges of the reused strip 22 extending generally radially of the bufling wheel 50. The strip of cloth 22 also extends generally radially of the bufiing wheel 50.

From the above description, it is seen that this invention provides a buffing wheel 50 which is constructed of a reclaimed strip of buff cloth 22 which is of a width less than the width of the cloth body 30 which is required to form the buff 50 of the necessary diameter. Consequently this invention provides an improved method for obtaining from a strip 22 of cloth, a cloth body 30, which is of a width greater than the width of the cloth strip 22. The improved buff 50 is obtainable without the necessity for excessive manual labor and is in some respects improved relative to a new bufling wheel, since the reclaimed cloth has some characteristics, such as yieldability, which are not present in new cloth. Furthermore, by virtue of the arrangement of the cloth in the butt of this invention, a large surface contact of flexible cloth with an article being buffed is obtainable, which is advantageous in certain commercial applications. Consequently, it is within the purview of this invention to utilize new cloth of any available or desired width relative to the width W.

It will be understood that the buff utilizing reused cloth and the method of making such a buff which are herein disclosed and described are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and are not intended to indicate limits of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A buff wheel comprising means forming a substantially circular supporting ring having a radially outwardly opening endless channel at the outer periphery thereof, alligator-type clamping teeth on opposite sides of said channel, an elongated cloth body consisting of overlapped pieces of cloth which extend generally transversely of said body, each of said pieces having a pair of raw edges which extend generally transversely of said body, said pieces being transversely unattached to adjacent pieces, said body being mounted on said ring so that said pieces are evenly distributed about the periphery thereof with each of said pieces being return folded upon itself so that it has a center portion and a pair of end portions which extend in overlapped relation from said center portion, with each of said end portions of each piece terminating in an edge separated from the edge of the other end portion of said piece, the center portion of each of said pieces being positioned in said channel so that the center por tions of all of said pieces are disposed in the same plane, said teeth clampingly engaging the cloth body.

2. A bufi wheel according to claim 1 in which said body is comprised of a substantially continuous strip of cloth wound to form a body of flattened helical shape, said body being of a width equal to the desired length of each of said pieces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,728,586 9/1929 Zimmerman 15230.15 2,123,338 7/1938 Martin 15230.13 2,140,208 11/1938 Murray 15230.1 2,571,146 10/1951 Lyon 15230.l3 2,642,706 6/1953 Davies 15--230.l3 2,693,064 11/1954 Lyon 30021 2,803,097 8/1957 Mockiewicz 15-230.1 X 2,818,693 1/1958 Bernstein et al 51395 2,918,762 12/1959 Hurst 51-358 3,086,821 4/1963 Kent et al. 300-21 FOREIGN PATENTS 157,225 6/ 1954 Australia.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BUFF WHEEL COMPRISING MEANS FORMING A SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR SUPPORTING RING HAVING A RADIALLY OUTWARDLY OPENING ENDLESS CHANNEL AT THE OUTER PERIPHERY THEREOF, ALLIGATOR-TYPE CLAMPING TEETH ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID CHANNEL, AN ELONGATED CLOTH BODY CONSISTING OF OVERLAPPED PIECES OF CLOTH WHICH EXTEND GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID BODY, EACH OF SAID PIECES HAVING A PAIR OF RAW EDGES WHICH EXTEND GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID BODY, SAID PIECES BEING TRANSVERSELY UNATTACHED TO ADJACENT PIECES, SAID BODY BEING MOUNTED ON SAID RING SO THAT SAID PIECES ARE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED ABOUT THE PERIPHERY THEREOF WITH EACH OF SAID PIECES BEING RETURN FOLDED UPON ITSELF SO THAT IT HAS A CENTER PORTION AND A PAIR OF END PORTIONS WHICH 